The Next Logical Step
by kitkate1998
Summary: Things finally seemed to be going well for Mercy and Adam. Their relationship was great, and Mercy hadn't gotten into trouble for quite some time. How will this change when the unexpected happens? Will they be able to handle the stress of taking the next logical step. Rated M
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I awoke with a jolt, rolling out of the comfort of my bed, hurling myself towards the bathroom door. I stumbled to the toilet eyes barely open. Before I could make sure I was aiming correctly, I retched into the bowl bringing up what seemed like a 3 course meal. This was strange as I had only eaten a few bites of my dinner that night. After emptying the contents of my stomach into the porcelain bowl, I sank all the way to the floor resting my cheek against the cool wall. I felt strong arms grip me under my armpits pulling me to my feet. Adam turned me to face him, looking into my eyes with concern.

"I told you there was something wrong with the roast," I mumbled. Still weak from my recent spell.

"There was nothing wrong with it Mercy, I thing you might have a stomach flu," He said this while checking my forehead to see if I had a temperature.

"Am I okay Doc, you think I'm gonna make it?" I said in a horrible impression of Donald Duck. This made him smile.

"If you can laugh about it I'm guessing you'll be fine, c'mon let me help you get cleaned up, then I'll put you to bed and get something for your stomach," He started towards the sink, still holding me up.

"I'm fine, really," I protested meekly.

"Shhhh, just let me help you," He turned the faucet on and made me rinse out my mouth. He then led me to the bedroom where he pulled the covers back and helped me onto my side of the bed, tucking the covers around me like a small child. He pushed my hair back from my face and kissed me on my clammy forehead and whispered "I'll go get you some water and something for your upset stomach," with that he left the room, closing the door in halfway. I was asleep before he returned.

The next morning Adam woke me with a kiss saying something about going to work, and asking how I was feeling that morning. I was about to say "fine", when the scent of coffee wafted upstairs assaulting my senses. I threw the covers off my legs and bolted for the toilet. Adam followed me into the bathroom and held my hair away from my face as I heaved. When I had finished pouring the contents of my stomach into the toilet he pulled my t-shirt over my head and lead me into the shower with him, adjusting the pressure and temperature to one that would be more comfortable to me. He pulled me directly beneath the spray, then reached behind me to the shower caddy for my vanilla and lavender body wash and my purple loofah. He poured some body wash onto the loofah then set it aside so that he could hold me up with one hand and have the other hand working me over.

"You must be really ill to let me take care of you like this," he rumbled near my ear. "I think you should see a doctor about whatever this is," he continued tentatively.

"It's probably nothing, and throwing up that second time really did wonders for me… really, I'm fine," with that I grabbed the loofah from him and gently started scrubbing his left shoulder and chest with it, moving in small circles all the way to his right shoulder. It wasn't long before my gentle touches heated up, and we progressed to more intimate touching.

Fully clothed we made our way downstairs to the kitchen, where we found Jesse sitting at the counter eating toast with jam and a cup of coffee.

"How you people could drink that stuff is beyond me," I said, while Adam made his way over to the coffee pot to grab a cup for himself. "Did someone change the coffee; it's even more noxious today, if you can believe that,"

"Nope, same good old regular coffee" Jesse said taking a big gulp of her own with a teasing smile.

"Well, I'm late for work," Adam said, giving me a provocative smile that made me blush all the way through to my core, "I have to go, but Mercy I would feel a lot better if you ate something, and If you saw a doctor, at the very least went to the pharmacy. Take Jesse for moral support, and call me if it's anything serious" with that he put his coffee mug in the sink and left.

Jesse turned in her chair and looked at me in a way that said she wanted to know everything. Just as I was about to assure her that everything was okay Ben walked into the kitchen, probably from one of the rooms in the basement.

"Morning," he mumbled, pushing past me, to get to the coffee. After he poured himself a mug, and took his first gulp, he turned to me with a less disoriented expression, "Boss said I'm supposed to make sure you take care of that stomach of yours, something about a stomach flu," he paused, looking at me questioningly. I sat at the counter with a sigh, grabbing an apple from the basket at the centre of the counter.

"I told him I felt fine. You know Adam, he worries too much,"

"Nevertheless I have, direct orders, and I'm not looking to get on his bad side,"

"What about my bad side?" I asked half-jokingly. Chuckling, he reached over and patted me on the head.

"Cute, now you two get your arses up, I do have a job you know?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A coyote, a werewolf and a human went to Walgreens… now to think of a punch line. I was only doing this to appease Adam and because it wasn't too far from my garage and did not put me out of my way much. I walked through the store to the lane with Pepto Bismol and grabbed a bottle.

I figured since I was there and I wasn't too late, (10 o'clock isn't late right?) I could just pick up a few things. I told Jesse and Ben my plans and they wandered off, presumably to do some shopping of their own. I was strolling through the aisle of feminine hygiene products when my eyes landed on a box of Kotex tampons. I automatically reached for them to place them in my basket; that was when it hit me. I couldn't remember having my period. I counted the weeks in my head hoping I was just a few days late. My period had never been extremely regular and it was normal for me to be a few day "late". Upon counting however, I realized that I was not a few days late, but almost three weeks!'

I put the tampons back onto the shelf and power walked to the end of the lane where I saw a young girl in an apron.

"Pregnancy tests, where do you keep the pregnancy tests?" I managed to choke out as it felt as though my throat was trying to strangle the words. The girl took one small step back from me, eyes wide with shock.

"Aisle 5," she said quickly, "There is supposed to be someone there to help you choose the most reliable test for you," without waiting to hear the rest of what she was saying, I dashed off to aisle 5. My heart was racing as I power walked through the store. I kept reminding myself that I had to remain calm, or else risk alerting Adam prematurely. _So what if I was pregnant, _I thought, _would that be the worst thing? _Well not the worst, but it could be bad. Things between Adam and I have finally began to settle into a normal, comfortable routine. Jesse and I have had more good moments than bad lately; heck even things with the pack were getting easier. But who knew what a kid could do to that? To take something so fragile and put a baby in the mix might just be disastrous.

Apparently the woman who was supposed to "help" me was late for work, and so I was spared the awkwardness of refusing her assistance. Grabbed a couple boxes and dumped them in my basket, making sure there were at least a few boxes of "First Response" in there. I then power walked to the cashiers, thanking God that there was hardly anyone in the lines, that way I could try to cash before Jesse and Ben returned. The woman working the register gave no notice of my items (I guess she'd seen stranger things on the job) and bagged my items in record time. Jesse and Ben had still not turned up so I went to the entrance to wait on them. Ben was the first to surface muttering about America not having any good "shops". Thankfully he was too preoccupied by his rant to notice anything off about me. About 3 minutes later Jesse showed up with her basket and went to the cashier nearest to us. I walked over to her to offer to pay for her items, but she dismissed it easily, saying how much money she had mad waitressing and babysitting.

After paying for her stuff, we all made our way to where Ben parked his truck and piled in. I was silent the entire ride home which went unnoticed by Ben and Jesse who were locked in a heated argument about some controversy over a pop star. The drive home seemed to go on forever and I had never been happier to see the driveway.

I hopped out of the truck as soon as Ben turned the hand breaks. I held my bags tightly, and all but sprinted up the porch stairs. As I made my way to my room, I heard Ben call out that he would be leaving for work, and wondering if I needed anything else. "Nah, I'm good, think I'm gonna stay at home today though," I called out, and waited until I heard the front door close. Jesse was still here however. I dropped the shopping bags onto the floor and went into the kitchen to get something to drink. I had bought about 12 different tests and would need a lot of fluids.

I grabbed the first thing I saw when I opened the fridge, which was a can of Arizona iced tea. I was so caught up in my own head that I didn't hear when Jesse walked into the room.

"Mercy area you okay? You've been acting kind of weird today," she said tentatively. I jumped and turned to face her slowly, shutting the fridge door in the process.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired. I think I just need to go lie down for a while," I said hoping she wouldn't question me further. "Hey actually, can you call the shop and tell tad I won't be in today?"

"Sure, I'll probably skip today as well, I'm already late and you look sweaty and pale," she commented in a questioning tone. It was easy to tell that she wanted to know what was up, but didn't want to push too far.

I didn't want to say anything prematurely, but I also needed to tell someone, or risk my head imploding. My mother was out of the question, so were the females in the pack, for obvious reasons. Jesse seemed to be the safest bet.

"Jess, I think I'm pregnant," I blurted. I braced myself for her reaction. I did not expect the one I got.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! I may be having a little brother or sister!" she hugged me suddenly, squealing unintelligible things near my ear. Releasing me she asked "Does dad know?"

"Nope, I only suspected today when we got to Walgreens. I didn't want to say anything unless I knew for sure, either way"

"Are you going to take a test now?"

"Yup, that's what the tea is for,"

"Then why are we still standing here?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was a little after 6 when Mercy heard Adam pull into the drive. She was currently sitting in a warm bath she had drawn about ten minutes earlier. Her mother had recently embarked on a series of projects which included aroma therapeutic bath pouches (little pouches filled with petals, essentials oils and other unknown things), candle making and gardening. My bath room was filled with things she had sent Adam and I. I was currently making use of the bath pouch and the scented candles. The entire house smelt of vanilla, chamomile and lavender.

Earlier in the day I sat in this very bathroom, waiting to know my fate in the form of a little plastic wand covered in pee. I had done about seven of the twelve or so I picked up before I decided to accept that I was pregnant. Jesse had left the house about an hour earlier giving me some alone time Adam. I was contemplating how to give him the news when he walked into our bedroom. I heard him pause, probably sensing and adjusting to my mood. I head as he put his briefcase in the closet, sat on the bed to remove his shoes, and as he walked over to the dresser to deposit his watch and cufflinks. Finally, he made his way to the bathroom, where I was impatiently waiting.

The closer he got the more anxious I became, something I was not used to feeling around Adam. Your mate was supposed to soothe you for chrissakes! With closed I eyes, I felt, more than heard his presence. He said nothing, but I could hear the rustle of his clothes as he started to undress, then, the disturbance of the water as he entered the tub, sitting on the side with the faucet so that he was facing me. He lifted my legs and put them on top of his thighs; he then gripped my left ankle and started rubbing my feet. We sat like that for about 5 minutes before he broke the silence.

"Mercy I can't take this anymore, this silence will drive me crazy," he blurted, "I mean, you don't have to tell me what's wrong but can you at least look at me? Was it something I did? Or someone in the pack?"

"You didn't do anything. Well, you did but-"

"Whatever it is we can get through it if you just give it a chance. I'm not sure what happened, but I love you and I know we can figure it out-"

"Adam I'm pregnant,"

"What?!" he asked, seeming genuinely surprised.

"We're going to have a baby," I said softly waiting for the enormity of what I had just said to settle.

Upon hearing this he sat staring blankly past me for a while. Quite a while. This time it was I who broke the silence.

"Say something!" I demanded. Instead of responding, he assaulted me with the mental image of me in coyote form wrapped around a fat, rosy, sleeping toddler. Then another of his wolf chasing after a ball thrown by a child, and another of a teenager getting ready for prom. Then sitting with me as we watched our child graduate.

"Are you sure?" he asked in a tear filled voice.

"Well I took seven tests, and they were all positive. So I'd say yes, I'm pretty sure" that was when I saw a tear.

"I've wanted this for so long, a real family with you. You have no idea how happy you continue to make me," his words eased some of the discomfort in my chest. While Adam was still distracted, I hopped out of the tub not bothering to dry of and walked over to the cupboard where I had taped the pregnancy tests to the underside of a shelf. One of the tests in hand I walked back to Adam to give him visual affirmation. Seeing proof seemed to bring him back to reality. He got out of the tub, and I was momentarily stunned by the sight of water dripping down his muscled body. He reached out grabbed me by the arms, pulling me towards his body, and kissed me. The kind of kiss that made all your worries and doubts fade away. The kiss seemed to last forever and yet no time at all. Then Adams mouth stilled and he pulled back with a concerned look.

"Earlier you seemed really stressed, was it because you were afraid of how I would react or because you don't want to have a baby with me?"

"Well I'll admit, I wasn't sure how you would react but that's not the reason. I want to have a baby with you I just wasn't sure that I wanted one now. Things have been so great lately and I'm fearful of how a baby would impact us,"

"Mercy, I've told you before, whatever happens we can handle it, together," he closed the space between us again and we picked up where we left off. He then grabbed my thighs and lifted them to around his waist, "Now it's time for me to show you one of the many perks of being an Alpha's wife."

At around 8 that night Adam and I were sitting at the kitchen counter eating pizza and enjoying each other's company, when Jesse walked into the room. She made a beeline for the pizza and had half a slice already in her mouth when she asked, "Did you tell him yet?"

"She did, chew with your mouth closed," Adam said, to which Jesse smiled and swallowed loudly.

"Was he excited?" she inquired.

"I was,"

"Good. Now let's start talking baby names. I was thinking something unisex…"

**A/N Okay so I don't know if I said this already but this is my first attempt at fanfic writing, and I would really appreciate and tips or suggestions from some of you more accomplished writer out there. Feel free to leave reviews, let me know if you like the story so far. I'm also looking for someone to be a beta for this story (someone that would read, edit, someone I can bounce ideas off of. This job will include a lot of ranting on my part :P) if you are interested in that, message me.**


	4. Chapter 4

Quick Note: Before you read this chapter I just want to say a quick "Thank you!" to anyone who reviewed my story, it was very much appreciated. This would be the time to follow this story if you enjoy it because from this chapter on it will be rated M.

Chapter 4

It had been about a week since I told Adam the news, but I knew the worst was yet to come. I had spent countless hours thinking about how I would tell my mother. Here I was, a thirty two year old married woman, who was afraid to admit to her mother that she was engaging in sexual activities. And that I had become pregnant as a result of said sexual activities.

Well if I was being honest I was more afraid that she would smother me trying to get close to her grandkid. Although I was an adult and had long ago come to terms with my mother leaving me, I was afraid that she would try extra hard to make that up with her grandchild, suffocating Adam and I in the process. She could be a bit bossy and sometimes disregarded what anyone else wanted. There was also the issue of telling the pack, which I would try to hold off on. Werewolf pregnancies were iffy, throw in a shape shifting mother and who knew what to expect. Adam and I had yet to discuss the likelihood of the child not making it to term but I knew that that was a possibility. Hence, I didn't want to inform the pack until I was fairly certain. About three months or so.

Adam has been off the wall for the past week, and already I was dreading the next eight months. He is usually a very controlling, anxious person, but my pregnancy has made him downright impossible. The morning after I told him I was pregnant we had one of the biggest fights in the history of our marriage.Adam didn't want me to go into work even though I had not been the day before. He tried to insist that I call Zee and ask him to cover for me. I argued stubbornly that if I stopped working in my first month of pregnancy, that I might as well hand the shop back over to its original owner, to which he replied, "There's an idea," which cause me to argue stubbornly for about twenty minutes. I knew he was just worried about me though, so I eventually compromised by agreeing to stay home until I saw a doctor, then if everything was cleared with the doctor, I would return to the shop to assist Zee.

Our first appointment with the doctor was at 11 o'clock and I was so nervous that I couldn't eat. Adam was not having that.

"Mercedes you need to eat,"

"I know that," I snapped, then in a more gentle tone, "I just… I'm nervous Adam,"

"About?"

"I want this to go okay. I want this child to be born without complications, I haven't exactly had the best luck for the past few years and I hope things go alright." When I looked at Adam I could tell that I was not the only one plagued by these fears. Instead of responding he went to the pantry and pulled out a packet of granola bars, then he got me an apple and a glass of water. He came over to me and placed the loot in front of me, removing the scrambled eggs and pancakes he had prepared earlier. Returning to his own breakfast he finally addressed the issues I had brought up.

"I really want this to go smoothly, but we have to prepare ourselves for possibility that it might not, I mean you know how many children of werewolves reach full term, the fact that you are a shape shifter may increase the odds, it may not. No matter what happens I'm with you all the way. You shouldn't worry about things that have yet to come," he said seriously, then added "Now finish your breakfast,"

We arrived at my OB/GYN's office at 10:40. I waved at the sweet, old receptionist at main desk, who smiled and greeted me as she usually did. We took a seat on the hot pink chairs lining the left wall. Being in the office of the doctor I had been seeing sing I was 21 was comforting in a way that nothing else had been. The pale pink wall which I usually hated, had a very shooting effect today and, bonus, it was funny to see how uncomfortable all the pink and diagrams of vaginas made Adam.

I picked a magazine from the pile in front of me and began to read November's hottest beauty tips. Beside me Adam was doing his best to remain calm. Every now and again he would shift in his seat, or run his hands through his hair. After 5 minutes he picked up a magazine, and tried to immerse himself into the words of _Women's Fitness. _He gave that up in about 3 minutes. He then leaned forward resting his elbows onto his knees and tapped his foot. We were one of three couples, with a few other women. The men all seemed to have the same reaction to the vagina themed waiting room. I reached out with my left hand and massaged the nape of his neck just above the collar of his shirt. The contact seemed to ease some of his tension and he leaned into my touch with a sigh.

At about 11:10 the receptionist called out "Mr and Mrs Hauptman the doctor will see you now,"

"You ready?" I asked Adam. He got up and took my hand, escorting me into the main exam room.

I was lying on the exam table in a hospital gown, with my legs in the stirrups while Dr Maria Diaz did a Pelvic exam on me. She had begun the appointment by asking a long list of questions about things I had never given any thought to, my families medical history, Adam's family's medical history. Then she had me do a series of tests and exams. When she was finished sticking what seemed like her entire set of tools into me and was satisfied with the state of uterus she settled into her chair to begin what she liked to call "the Talk".

"Okay, since this is your first child I am going to have to give you the whole speech. I would love it if you did not interrupt me, file all questions away until I'm finished," her words were stern but her easy smile remained. I felt Adam squeeze the hand he was holding. I listened intently as Maria lecture us about the importance of adopting healthy habits for the next 8 months. The lecture lasted about 20 minutes then she gave me prenatal vitamins and a suggested meal plan. When she was finished she asked if we had any questions.

"Will I be able to work?" I blurted.

"I'm not sure; you are being exposed to a lot of toxins, also lifting heavy objects. While I won't say_ no, _I will have to ask you touse extreme caution at work. I remember you had someone who would come in from time to time to help you at work, it would probably be a good idea to ask him to come in." Adam asked her a few more questions, but I wasn't listening I was more preoccupied with the fact that I was basically unemployed.

"Oh, I almost forgot, your expected due date is September 18th, bear in mind this is not set in stone, many factors can come into play. And Mercedes, have a wonderful pregnancy," and with that she left the exam room.

Adam and I spent the rest of the day together. We had lunch at a restaurant, where Adam held my hand throughout the entire meal. Then we went to a park in Kennewick and sat on a cold park bench watching old men strolling leisurely, and dedicated joggers, braving the cold January air. When I started to shiver we decided it was time to leave.

When we got back to the house it was still well before anyone else would be home, and we did not hesitate to take advantage of our time alone. Before he had even gotten the door closed Adam was pulling me towards him, and unbuttoning my coat. He pulled it off my shoulders and tossed it on the floor. He brought his lips down on mine forcefully. He wrapped his hands around my waist pressing himself to me. I revelled in the feeling of his length pressed against me. His lips left mine in favour of the hollow of my neck just about my shirt's neckline. He sucked on the flesh there until it stung, and then placed a kiss over the red mark. The flagrant possessiveness both angered me and turned me on greatly. I felt his hands as they slid over my hips to cup my ass. Then he lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. His lips were back on mine as he walked into the sitting room. My hands were in his hair, tugging it, trying to convey how urgently I needed him.

Without warning he threw me onto the antique fainting couch (Who has an antique fainting couch?), and treated me to the most delectable strip tease ever. I propped myself up onto my elbows to better view the piece of art that was my husband. When he had successfully removed his shirt, belt and shoes, he reached out to help me with my clothes. I unsnapped my jeans while he removed my boots; he then yanked my jeans off roughly. My panties were treated similarly. He dropped to his knees, and pushed my legs up so that my feet were on the cushion, knees in the air. I felt him hovering over me, breathing over the most sensitive part of me. The feeling of his warm breath fanning over my flesh was almost enough to send me over the edge. Just when I thought I was going to have to beg him to touch me I felt his lips press gently against me. I lifted my hips as I felt him deepen his kiss, his warm mouth sucking gently on my clit. He grabbed my hips so that I would stop wiggling and continued his ministrations on my slit. And when I thought I couldn't take any more he roughly shoved two fingers into me all the way to the knuckle. I yelp in surprise as my orgasm ripped through me.

I threw my head back on the couch and waited for my body to recover. When my breathing sounded less like a death rattle and my heart rate evened out, I reached out trying to get Adam's attention. I chuckled as I realized his lips were still firmly on my lower ones, his fingers still inside of me. He removed them slowly and placed one last kiss against my now oversensitive skin, causing tingles to radiate from my hips outward.

"Why don't we finish this upstairs," I suggested in a breathy, hopefully provocative voice. In response Adam picked me up and walked with me to the bedroom bridal style. I checked my watch and saw that we had at least an hour before anyone would be home. I planned on using every single one of those minutes.

A/N: This was my first attempt at a sex scene in this story so I didn't want to jump into the deep end on this one; I believe it was fairly tame? Anyway tell me if you guys liked it. Fave and Follow for Mercy/Adam time, see you guys in the next chapter -Kate


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_5 weeks later_

It was a lovely sunny morning and I was preparing to do something I had been dreading since the beginning of my pregnancy. I was going to announce it to the pack. Adam and I had been to our third OBGYN appointment earlier that week, and after being assured by Dr. Maria that everything was fine, we had decided not to put it off any longer. He called a pack "meeting" over breakfast.

The usually spacious house was now packed with 40 or so werewolves. The kitchen was in pandemonium, with pots and pans filling the sink and most of the surrounding counter space. The masses had been fed and everyone was basking in the afterglow of Daryl's homemade pancakes, well except the men in the living room who were arguing about football. Adam who had been at my side all morning, making sure I was eating enough and insisting that I didn't get up for anything, got up and called out to his wolves. When they all shuffled into/near the room, he told them of our exciting news.

"I'm sure you are all wondering why I asked to meet today in such an informal capacity. Mercy and I are expecting," he stated, matter of fatly. There was no reaction as if everyone was waiting for Adam to clarify. Up until that point I had been unable to meet the eyes of the wolves, fearful of their reactions. I then scolded myself for allowing them to affect my happiness. Suddenly I felt giant arms wrap around me and in his usual southern drawl I heard Warren yell "Congrats you two," his outburst seemed to have clued in the others, as one by one they began respectfully approaching us with well wishes.

A few faces stuck out to me. Honey and Aurielle, who were unable to look me in the eyes, Ben who seemed genuinely, and surprisingly happy, and Mary Jo who seemed unable to truly hide her jealousy. And of course Warren who was wearing his cat-in-the-cream expression.

About half an hour later when most of the pack had cleared out, save for Ben and Honey. I went upstairs to get ready for church, I would need divine intervention to get me through the phone conversation I would have with my mother later that day. After a very appropriate church service (the bonds of marriage, the joys of procreation within said union) I sat in my caar in the parking lot of the church and decided to just get the whole thing over with. My hands shook as I dialled the familiar number, I let the phone ring a few times then hung up. My heart was racing; I couldn't believe that at my age I was still _this _intimidated by my mother. I sighed deeply, and as I prepared to go home and procrastinate a bit more, my phone started, vibrating in my hand. I looked at then number on the phone for about ten seconds before answering.

"Hi, mom-"

"Mercy, what's wrong?" she asked in a worried tone, which made me snort in a very unladylike manner.

"Does something have to be wrong for me to call my mother?" I asked innocently.

"Mercedes, you call me once a week, sometimes holidays. I assumed the worst when you called twice in one week."

"…."

"Mercy?" she asked starting to sound panicked again, "What is it hun? Everything okay with you and Adam? Are you in some kind of trouble?" she demanded.

"Nope, Adam and I are fine…" I took a deep breath and tried to speed through the revelation "Better than fine actually, we're pregnant,"

"… Are you serious? How far along are you? Does he know? God, please tell me I'm not the last to know," I release the breath I had been holding as I realized how excited she sounded. Who would have though Margi Thompson would be this happy to be a grandmother? She continued on in a more solemn voice, "Mercedes, I know I wasn't the greatest mom, and you and I have a sometimes very tense relationship, but I'm hoping that you will allow me to be a bigger part of your life now, and the life of my grandchild. I really hope it's not too late for us to have that.

"…"

"Mercedes? Say something, please,"

"I, I… Of course you can," she said after a somewhat awkward pause. Margi let out a relieved pause and for the first time I realize that it must be hard for her to ask this of me when our relationship had been so uncertain for so many years. After revealing the big news we settled into a more friendly conversation.

"I didn't even know you two were trying," she said with a touch of sadness, and in true Margi form, annoyance.

"We weren't, it was a complete surprise," I said.

"How did he react?"

"Better than I did that's for sure, I panicked instantly, Adam, he seemed excited…" my response ended in a smile as I remembered just how_ excited _he was that evening. We chatted for quite some time as I filled her in on the past three months, my appointments with the OB, telling the pack, my pregnancy symptoms. After about an hour and a half, and at least 10, missed calls from Adam, we said our goodbyes. On the drive home I couldn't help but smile at the way the conversation had gone. I had expected my mother to be demanding and pushy, yet she had surprised me. It was funny I had never pegged her for the nurturing type, and then again she had been the head of the PTA at my sisters school.

I must have still been smiling when I walked into the house, because Adam's panicked expression suddenly softened when he saw me come through the door. He stopped his frantic pacing to pull my body towards him. I felt his relieved intake of breath the his soft words at my ear.

"Ten more minutes and I was sending out the troops. I though we agreed no disappearances without at least a phone call?"

"I'm sorry, I decided to call my mother from the parking lot, and I lost track of time, "at that he pulled back to look at me, his eyes searching my face.

"How did it go?" he asked tentatively.

"She was…excited. I didn't know she wanted to be a grandmother, she always joked about being too young. Though I think it has more to do with me than this child,"

"How so?"

"I guess she sees this as a second chance with me. That she can be a bigger part of my life through this child," Adam leaned in placed a comforting kiss against my temple.

"Good,"

Monday morning I was back in the shop. I had gotten used to my daily routine with Zee. I would come in at about 8 to find him already in the shop working on whatever we had lined up for the day. I would go to the office and handle any administrative work that needed to be done. I had basically turned into an assistant in my own shop, doing paper work, inventory, getting lunch. Zee never asked why I needed help in the shop, and I never said anything, I could tell that he enjoyed being back to what he was good at.

Today I had driven to the taco wagon down by the river and gotten a few for Zee and myself. I was leaned against a car in the garage, wolfing down the last of my tacos when I felt someone staring at me. I looked up to see Zee gazing at me with his eyebrows pulled together.

"What was that like five tacos?" he asked bemusedly.

"I was hungry, sue me," I managed around a mouthful of beans and meat.

"Mercedes, you should probably try to improve your diet for the sake of that kid, all this fast food and soda isn't doing you any favours,"

"Excuse me," I stuttered.

"That child is way too young for such a consistent diet of saturated fat and sugar," he continued in an almost grandfatherly tone.

"How did you know? Did Adam tell you?"

"I am old, Mercedes. I see things, I did not need anyone to tell me anything," he said seriously, then continued in a lighter tone "Didn't stop your wolf from threatening to kill me if I did not take care of his wife and unborn child though,"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Mercy was almost out of her first trimester of pregnancy and still was not showing the tiniest bit. This, according to Dr Maria, was quite common in first time mothers, especially ones who worked out regularly. I was grateful for this because I was already receiving way too much attention at home, I definitely didn't need it from complete strangers.

It was a Tuesday evening, and although it was Adam's turn to cook tonight, I decided I would just do it as I was the first to get home. I was just about to stick the casserole in the oven when I heard Adam pull into the driveway. He entered the house without calling out to me; he walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arm around me from behind.

"You know, it's nice to have you barefoot and pregnant in our kitchen," he said placing a kiss on the top of my head.

"Well in that case let me go find my shoes," I replied. I turned around in his arms so that I could properly greet my husband. Instead of making me tip toe Adam just lifted me from around my waist to allow me to deepen my kiss. Only when I was completely out of breath did he put release me.

"Isn't it my turn to cook?"

"I decided to do it since I came home a little earlier than usual, now if you'll just go upstairs and clean up, I'll have dinner ready in about twenty minutes. Oh, ewwww Christy flashback," I said wrinkling my nose. To which he laughed. "See it hasn't even been 4 months and already I'm a housewife," I said with more than a touch of annoyance.

"Mercy you are way too independent to ever be a mere housewife," he said seriously, then ruined it by swatting me on the ass and saying, "I expect dinner to be served at 7 sharp," he jumped back from me and narrowly avoided me swatting him with a dish towel then quickly left to do as I had instructed.

I turned back to my task of finishing dinner and could still hear him laughing as he made his way upstairs. He would definitely have to pay for that, and with that delicious thought in mind I started on the salad. Five minutes later Jesse came into the kitchen and helped me set the table for the three of us.

"When do you get to find out the gender of the baby?" She asked suddenly.

"The doctor says at about 5 months she'll be able to get a fairly good look at what's happening in there"

"Are you hoping for anything in particular?"

"I've always wanted a little boy," I admitted almost shyly.

"I can see that," she said with a smile making us both laugh.

"What are you two giggling about in here?"

"Nothing!" they both said at the same time, making them laugh even harder.

**Adam's POV**

I couldn't believe that I had gotten this lucky, Adam though while looking at his wife and daughter laughing over dinner. It made him happy to see how well they both got along. Even though he knew it wasn't right Adam couldn't help that he sometimes compared Mercy and Christy. Mercedes was tough while Christy was soft, Mercy was independent and Christy reliant. Mercedes was selfless and Christy the exact opposite. Sometimes Adam wondered what he had ever seen in his ex-wife, yet knew that if it hadn't been for Christy he wouldn't have had Jesse, and might not be with Mercedes now.

After they were all finished eating Mercy made a move to get up but Adam told her to relax and let him clear the table. She got up anyway. Of course she did. They cleared the table, then put away the leftovers, and started tidying the kitchen. Adam washed while, Mercedes rinsed. They moved in sync as if they had been doing this for years, when in reality it had only been about ten months. I heard Jesse get up from the table and walk up the stairs to her room. I waited until I heard her door close before wrapping myself around her. I found that since she had gotten pregnant it was almost impossible to keep my hands off of her. I was constantly stroking he flat stomach, imagining how beautiful she would look when she finally started to show.

"Adam we're not done yet…" she said with a sigh, feeling my growing erection against her backside. I nibbled on her earlobe and breathed against her neck

"I'll do the rest later," I whined, grinding my hips against her.

"No you won't," she said with a chuckle, but turned around and grabbed my suddenly very, very stiff member. "I guess they'll have to wait, something important just came up".

**Mercy's POV**

I was sitting in my office filling out paperwork for a shipment of parts when my phone rang, I picked up on the second ring, knowing that if I made him wait any longer Adam would be banging down the door to see if I was all right.

"Adam," I greeted simply. However it wasn't Adam, but Honey one of the two female wolves in Adams pack.

"Uhm, it's Honey actually," she said. "I was just in the area and wondering if you would like to go to lunch with me?" she asked in a soft voice. I had always had a difficult relationship with female wolves in Adams pack, but recently Honey and I had bonded over a shared dislike for Adam's ex-wife Christy. I mean, we weren't calling each other every day to gossip, however things weren't as tense between us as they had been in the past.

"Uhh, sure, that sounds good. Lemme just finish up a few things here, meet me in five?" I asked. She hung up saying that she would be waiting in front of the shop. I walked into the garage to tell Zee, I was going out and to call me if he needed anything, then finished up the paperwork I was doing, grabbed my bag and waited outside for Honey to arrive. Five minutes later I was in her car and we were on our way to a little bistro not too far from the garage.

It was a small restaurant with dark wooden floors and furniture. The room was done in tasteful shades of white and had a very rustic Sicilian feel. The hostess showed us to a table towards the back of the dining room, gave us our menus and left. We made small talk for a few minutes before settling into an uncomfortable silence. A waitress arrived introduced herself as Hayley and asked us what we wanted to drink.

"Water is fine for me," I said automatically.

"What white wines do you have?" Honey asked. I raised a surprised brow at her, as she eventually settled on a Riesling and the waitress left to get our drinks.

"I don't think I've ever seen you drink before five in the afternoon," I remarked. To which she shrugged.

"I've been a little on edge lately…" I didn't know how to respond to that and we returned to our individual silent studies of the room. I was staring down at the table, when a baby stated crying, and his mother tried unsuccessfully to calm him down. I looked to Honey and saw that her eyes had misted slightly.

"Just imagine that's going to be you in a couple months," she said wistfully.

"I know. I still have a hard time believing it," Our musings were disrupted my Hayley retuning with our drinks and asking to take our order. I ordered a pasta thing and Honey had the same. When the waitress left again I tried to get Honey to tell me what was bothering her since she was so obviously wound up about something.

"So how have you been? I haven't seen you around the house much lately," I said.

"I've been fine, I haven't really left my own house for a while," she let the thought trail off and looked back over her shoulder to the mother and baby in the corner of the room. The mother was now taking the baby out of his stroller at her side and bouncing him in her lap trying to settle him. "I'm sorry if I came across as unhappy about your pregnancy. It's not that I'm not happy for you and Adam it's just that…before I was changed being a mother was all that I had wanted. Now it's the only thing I can think about and since losing Peter I've been so lonely in that house.,"

I had always known how Honey felt about her situation, but hearing it in this many words was heart-breaking. In a very un-me gesture I felt my hand settle over my still flat stomach tenderly. I was, for the first time since I found out, feeling just how lucky I had gotten with Adam and this baby.

"There's no need to apologize, I know how hard this must be for you and I want you to know that you're always welcome at the house," I said, and with the hand not resting on my stomach, I reached across the table to take her hand. She didn't pull away until the waitress came back to bring our food, and even then I saw that she relinquished the contact unhappily.

We chatted amicably while we finished our meals never going back to such heavy topics, and afterwards Honey dropped me back to the shop, with promises of joining Jesse, Adam and I for dinner sometime in the future.

That night while lying in bed with Adam, I recounted the lunch date for him. I told him how happy I was that she was opening up to me. How lucky I felt to have him and Jesse and our child. And how content I would be to spend the rest of my life with the three of them.

**A/N:** Not sure if you guys could tell, but I struggled with this chapter a bit. I'm kinda sorta happy with how it turned out thought. So, you know F&amp;F, R&amp;R and all that! -Kate

P.S. Not sure if this story is going to have any "serious" plot, but let me know if that is something you would want to read.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Werewolves are control freaks. This is something that I had gotten used to at a very early age. Didn't mean I had to like it though. At four months pregnant Adam and I were dealing with a lot of differences of opinion. Adam wanted me to stop going in to work so often and to work shorter hours, even though I was in perfect health and was not actually physically doing anything. That was just one of the many arguments we had been having for the past three weeks. It was hard to find out that we did not have as much in common as I had originally thought. Even the pack was beginning to notice the strain in our relationship.

I was sitting on our bed reading waiting on Adam to get home. I hated to fight with him and leave things unresolved which is what had happened this morning when I stormed out of the house after our fight. I had heard his car pull into the drive a couple of minutes ago, and I used the time it would take him to walk upstairs to figure out what I wanted to say. When he finally opened the door and saw me on the bed I had finally managed to think of an opening statement.

"Adam-"

"Mercy-"

"Let me go first, I know we've been fighting a lot lately and I know you're only doing what you think is best for me, but I'm going to need you to ease up a bit sometimes. At least with some things. I think I'm capable of knowing what what's best for me and our baby and making smart decisions. In order for this to work you need to trust that I would not knowingly put myself or this child in danger."

He sighed and dropped his briefcase and came to sit next to me. He took one of my hands in both of his and started massaging my palm, something he did when I was tense.

"Sometimes you can be a bit suffocating," I continued, and when I saw him start to speak I raised my hand and cut him off, "Please, let me finish. Sometimes you can be a bit much, and when that happens my first instinct is to rebel. What I don't want is while rebelling I stupidly get myself in trouble. I want us to be able to talk our problems out and come to a reasonable compromise. We agreed when I became your mate and again when I became your wife to trust each other. So now I need you to trust me. Adam I love you."

"I want that too," he said bringing the back of my hand to his lips and pressing a kiss there. "I'm sorry you felt suffocated, I will try to give you the space you need. I love you too."

"Good" I said and leaned over to plant a huge sloppy kiss on him.

**Adam's POV**

Later that night Mercy and I were getting ready for bed. I walked into our bathroom to see her weaving her hair into French braids. She was wearing a navy blue satin nightdress, with white lace trim. It was something I had gotten for her for Christmas. She usually wore one of my t-shirts to bed, but that night after we had made love, she rose gracefully from the bed, walked over to the dresser and pulled it out of the draw it had been in since she had gotten it. Then she dropped the slinky material over her head and let it fall to her ankles.

Now she was leaning over the counter to get closer to the mirror to better see what she was doing. I crept up behind her and wrapped my arms around her belly. In the last few weeks or so I had begun to notice more dramatic changes to her small frame. Her normally full breast were now almost an entire cup size larger, her abdomen had begun protruding in a way that screamed 'life', and there was an overall softness about her. Her face becoming slightly less angular. Her hair, which she usually wore at just below shoulder length, had gotten thicker and longer and fell to almost bra strap length. Her mother had also sent her a whipped shea butter and coconut oil mix with jasmine essential oil "for stretch marks", which she used every night, and this made her smell even yummier than usual.

The knowledge that it was my child growing in my wife that was making her glow was driving me insane. It was a miracle that I was able to keep my hands off her long enough to complete basic human functions. I dropped my chin on her shoulder to nuzzle her neck on the side she had already braided. My eyes found hers in the mirror, as my hand caressed her tummy. The shininess of the satin was highlighting her bump in the most alluring way.

"I am going to get you more of these nighties," I said softly, "A green one, a white one, a long one, a shorter one," At my words (or maybe the tone of my voice) I could see her eyes begin to darken. She dropped her hands to mine after finishing the braid and securing it with an elastic. "Maybe even a fuchsia one, with black lace. Would you like that?"

I ran my hands down toward her thighs them back up making sure the material rose with my hands. I took Mercy's hands and placed them on the fabric at her hips and used mine to part her warm folds. I used my fingers and touched her in all the places I knew would have her moaning in no time. I watched in the mirror as she dropped her head back onto my shoulder and I wrapped an arm around her torso to support her. I leaned down to kiss the delicate skin of her neck and shoulder.

"Help me out Mercy," I murmured against her skin "I only have two hands and one mouth, play with your nipples for me." I was pleased as I felt her shift against me and when I heard her soft moan, I knew she had done what I had asked. Her soft moans soon turned to loud and explicit encouragement. I doubled my efforts, with my fingers at her core and my tongue at her neck but eventually got fed up of the material of the long nightie impeding my efforts.

"Take the nightie off Mercy," I growled, feeling her hot, slippery walls contracting around my fingers. I suddenly felt her body tense against me, and not in the good way.

"Let's just leave it on for now," she said in a strange, shy tone. I thought this was weird because Mercedes wan almost never shy.

"Baby I want to feel and see all of you," I felt her shift uncomfortably against me. "What is it? What's wrong? Talk to me," I looked up and saw her eyes meet mine in the mirror. Then they flickered down as she moved to extricate herself from my grasp. I let her go my hands falling to my side. She turned around so that her butt was to the counter.

"Things are a little different now…"

"What are you talking about?" I asked confusion colouring my tone.

"You haven't seen me standing, completely naked and in good lighting. Things have… changed," when she said that I realized that it was true. I had not seen her completely naked for a while. If I got into the shower with her she would kiss me and leave. She would keep the towel wrapped tightly around her as she walked around the room. As comprehension dawned, I moved toward her forcing her into the counter. My lips came down on hers as I gathered the material of the dress in my hands. Her hands came down on mine trying to halt my movements so I kissed her more forcefully until she eventually surrendered and wrapped her arms around my neck. I pulled the dress up over her hips and toward her breasts. I had to break our kiss to get it off completely and I smiled in great satisfaction when I heard her whimper at the loss of my mouth on her.

Just as soon as the dress was over her head my lips were back on hers, her hands in my hair keeping my head in place. I lifter her up and placed her on the counter parting her knees and pushing myself between them. My hands moved up from her hips to her breast and I fondle them gently remembering her telling me earlier this week that they were sometimes a bit sore. I knew that was not a problem tonight when she arched her back pressing her breast into my palms. I felt her strong legs wrap around my waist as she drew me towards her. I had no doubt that she could feel my erection through the thin material of my pyjama pants. I felt one of her hands slip out of my hair as she ran it down my chest and down my abdomen. I knew where she was headed and I was anxious for her to get there.

I wanted her to just reach into my pants and grab me but for once my wife had other plans. I felt her stroke me through the cotton felt her hands lightly caressing me. Then she asked in a soft voice, "Do you still find me attractive, even though I'm fifteen pounds heavier, and I have a beard?" I knew it was an inappropriate response, but I burst out laughing. I really could not help it. I sobered up when I felt her start to pull away from me. I wrapped my arms around her back and pulled her chest flush against mine.

"Mercedes if anything I'm more attracted to you since you've gained fifteen pounds and have a beard,"

"I do not have a beard Adam," she said smacking me on the shoulders with both of her palms.

"Oh I know. You do however have an amazing body, better I might add with our child growing inside of it. A glow that you take everywhere. An infectious happiness. And a husband who would go to the end of the world and back to make you smile. Don't you ever, not even for a minute think I'm not attracted to you,"

"Okay," she said. And with that I picked up right where we left off.

I woke up the next morning feeling very well rested; I rolled over and reached for my wife to wake her up before I left for work. It was Friday and she had said last night that she was taking the day off. I panicked a little when my hands reached out and felt nothing but a cold bed. Having your wife kidnapped (on multiple occasions) among other things did not exactly put your mind at ease. I settled only when I heard her talking to Jesse downstairs. I got up went into the shower, dressed and made my way downstairs to the scent of bacon and eggs cooking.

When I entered the kitchen Mercy was just plating a huge pile of eggs on six slices of toast with bacon. She came to me gave me a quick peck then placed the plate on the island next to Jesse, who was eating from a plate that looked similar to mine with way less food. I put my briefcase on the counter next to me and dug in to the food, watching as my wife puttered around the kitchen, cleaning, chatting and laughing with Jess. It always surprised me at how much my wolf was pleased at seeing our Mercy happy. She came to me once again and placed a mug of coffee near me, touching my arm casually as she leaned around me to do so. It always surprised me how much emotion I could feel from one casual touch from her.

"So what's the plan for the day?" I asked between one bite of my food and another.

"Honey and I are going shopping," she said with more dismay than enthusiasm. "Apparently this kid is going to need a 'crib' and 'clothes' and 'toys', who knew?" at that Jesse and I erupted into a fit of laughter, which was what she had intended.

"That reminds me, I have to speak to the contractor about the renovations upstairs. I want the nursery finished before the end of your second trimester," I could see Jess and Mercy give each other knowing looks as I went into one of my rants. I tried to keep my amusement off my faces as I finished listing all the things that needed to be done while they bulged their eyes at each other with increasing vigour. "Okay I'm done now you two can stop staring at each other," I said reaching over to pull Jesses hair. She then turned innocent eyes on me.

"Whatever do you mean daddy?" she inquired sweetly to me as I rolled my eyes between her and Mercedes. Then I got off the stool, grabbed my plate and made my way to the trash where Mercy met me there and took the plate taking care of it for me. I went back to my coffee, finished it in one gulp, passing the mug to her.

"Right, I'm off to earn college tuitions," I announce and place a kiss on my daughters head, then pulled my wife almost across the counter and kissed her passionately, relaying to her without words how much I liked it when she took care of me, and when she had inside jokes with my daughter, and when she fought with me because I told her not to go to work. And generally how much I loved her. When I thought that she had gotten my entire message I pulled away, enjoying her flushed face, and bright eyes and the way she seem reluctant to release me. I picked up my briefcase nodded to them both and strode towards the front door. Just as I was closing the door, I heard Mercy call out in a fake contemplative tone "I think I should cook more often if that's the reaction I get."

**A/N:** Thank you so very much to anyone still reading this story, I had a little trouble trying to force myself to edit this chapter (still looking for a beta) never realized how sucky editing my own horrid mistake could be. Anyway, Thank you to anyone who followed and favourite this story, as well as those of you who take the time to comment, I don't always reply but I am making a conscious effort to do so from now on. I think this is now sufficiently obnoxiously long. Love Kate

P.S. Feel free to point out any spelling and or grammatical errors #Nobody'sPerfect.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After returning home from a very long and strenuous day of shopping, I was very happy to just lie down and let everyone else do all the hard work. I could hear Adam and Jesse in the kitchen and made no move to help them.

Staying home as much as I did these days meant that I was more often than not doing the cooking. I wasn't complaining (much), but it was nice to let someone else handle the domestic chores every once in a while.

My day with Honey had passed much more pleasantly than I expected, but it still surprised me as to how much needed to be done before the baby arrived. As suggest by Honey they got most of the bigger things out of the way. After visiting five large department stores without any such luck, we finally found the right crib, matching dresser, changing table and rocker all made from a beautiful dark wood. A stroller and a car seat (with all the latest safety features, whatever that meant) and looked at paint samples .She had also talked me into buying more "maternity appropriate" clothing, since apparently covering your unbuttoned jeans with an oversized cardigan wasn't trendy. In the end I left with way more personal items than I had ever planned to.

I sighed as I ran my hand over by rounded belly, letting it rest just above my paw print tattoo. As of late I had noticed that I was getting more than my usual share of pointed stares, I obviously wasn't doing too good of a job at disguising my little bump. I got off the bed and walked over to the pile of bags that I had dumped unceremoniously near the door, and retrieved the clothes I had purchased leaving the other things on the floor to sort out later. I put the clothes away, then stripped and put on one of the less offending garments. The burgundy tunic came down to mid-thigh and the neckline was low enough to draw attention to my now much more impressive cleavage, yet the body loose enough to make my stomach unnoticeable. It also accentuated my complexion in a way that I found rather flattering. I looked at myself in the mirror over the dresser, staring at the necklace that held the dog tag Adam had given to me, as well as my wedding bands. I unclasped the heavy gold chain, slipped off my engagement and wedding band, put them on the dresser and replaced the now slightly lighter necklace around my neck. I slipped the rings unto the correct finger, and with one more nervous stomach swipe, I left the room and headed to the kitchen.

Walking towards the kitchen, and the delicious scent of whatever Adam and Jesse were cooking, I almost tripped over my cat as she wound herself around my ankles. I bent over and scooped her into my arms to avoid another near accident. I entered the room and plopped myself into one of the stools at the counter and continued to pet the cat that was burrowing into my lap.

"I was just about to send the troops after you," Adam said in an amused tone. He turned away from the stove and very nearly dropped the spoon he was holding as his eyes zeroed in on my breasts. "Is that dress new?" he asked.

"Yeah it is, Honey though that I should get some things. Do you like it?" I asked innocently.

"The colour is very nice against your skin."

"I thought so," at this point he seemed to have recovered and was putting the food into serving dishes.

I got up and put Medea on the floor, then after washing my hands, went to help Jesse set the table.

Dinner that night was spent in its usual confortable conversation. Adam kept shooting what I'm sure was mean to be covert glances at my breast. After we had finished eating Adam and I cleaned up, while Jesse got ready to go out with her friends.

I went upstairs to change into more lounge appropriate wear, leaving Adam to dole out his usual warnings to his daughter. Just as I was tugging one of his t shirts over my hips he entered the room. He made a beeline towards me and wrapped his arm just under my breast, pulling me tight to his chest. I felt his breath on my neck as he placed a kiss there.

"Jesse's gone until 12," he said in a suggestive tone. At the feeling of me grinding my hips back into him I could feel his already hard cock twitch. He ran his right hand up over my breasts, pausing briefly to pull gently on my lengthening nipples. Along with giant (compared to my usual) breast and sore nipples pregnancy also brought with it the darkening of my nipples and areolas, and speaking of areolas, my usual diameter was now twice as large. I had also noticed that this had not affected Adam as his attraction to them seemed to increase, if his moans at my throat were any indication anyway. His large hands continued on their path up over my sternum and collarbone and came to rest at the base of my throat. Using his hand there to hold me in place he began kissing and sucking my neck in that sweet, torturous way that made my knees weak. His left hand moved down to my hip and used it to pull my ass against him while he rubbed himself against me in a slow thrusting motion.

After way too long of his teasing, I decided to take control of the situation. I reached behind me to the spot where his hips met mine. With practiced hands I quickly undid his belt and unbuttoned his trousers. With a little assistance on his part I was able to rid him of his pants without turning around. He was still thrusting but instead of against me, he was doing it with my hands wrapped around his length through his briefs. That got me a nip at my throat, which of course only made me more eager. Sensing that I would burst if he didn't do something soon Adam spun me around and walked me backwards until my thighs hit the bed, then pushed me onto it gently. He used that time to take off his dress shirt and threw it somewhere behind him.

I slid into the middle of the bed and propped myself up on my elbow waiting for him to make his next move. He knelt on the floor and grabbed one of my feet by the ankle the and with his strong, sure hands, began massaging my feet. I tried to jerk my foot as he stroked my instep, but he just held on more firmly.

"Did you and Honey get everything you wanted today?" he asked while still working at my admittedly achy feet.

"Mmmh, I think so… I was kinda just along for the ride; Honey was the real brains behind this operation," then "Adam did you forget what we were just about to do?"

"So impatient," he scolded playfully. I subjected him to my most annoyed sigh, but just settled in to let him finish up his rather inopportune foot rub. Finally satisfied with that foot he released it in favour of the other. He did the same to this foot, then just as I was about to take matter into my own hands, again, I felt his tongue swipe along my sole. From heel to toe. I gasped loudly as he repeated this again, and again. Then while looking directly into my eyes sucked my pinkie into his mouth and swirled his tongue around it.

I had always been strangely proud of my feet. Although my hands were less than favourable, I had pretty feet, and sometime earlier this week while watching TV Jess had painted my toenails the most brilliant shade of red. The effect was beautiful and I squirmed as Adam gave all my toes similar treatments, licking the spaces in between then sucking the toe into his mouth.

"Adam, I'm ready, I want you now" I darn near whimpered! Proving once and for all that he knew just how much to tease me, he rose to his feet, quickly got rid of his underwear and came to position himself above me. He gave me a bruising kiss, then reached down into my panties and dipped his middle finger into the moisture.

"Fuc- God you are ready," he groaned swirling his finger around my entrance. He retracted his finger the tugged at my underwear, quickly becoming frustrated with his pace I yanked them down myself. I started panicking as I felt him move away from me, but he made a gentle shushing noise and murmured silently "I just want to taste it."

He move down my body spreading my thighs as he went, and without hesitation of fanfare, ran his tongue along my slit from bottom to clit, then placed his mouth around the nub and flicked his tongue over it. It ended just as quickly as it had begun and soon I was filled completely by him. I felt the air leave his body in a gasp, as my pussy clamped down at his sudden entrance. Once inside he paused a while using the time to allow me to adjust and allow him to position himself properly. Then he began his deep and slow thrusts. I wrapped my hand around his neck and pull him down to me as close as I could get it and pulled him into a deep kiss as if my life depended upon it.

As he continued his steady pace I began to grow frustrated by the t shirt that was separating me from my husband. Just then Adam pulled back gripped the neckline and tore the shirt right down the middle, then lowered himself to me again. All without slowing the movement of his hips. I could tell if my sudden bare breastedness stemmed from Adam feeling my frustration through the bond or his own desire to be closer to me.

_Both. _I felt a shiver run down my spine as his beautiful husky voice invaded my mind. And just like that I felt myself falling off the cliff I had been standing near the entire encounter. I heard myself babbling incoherently as my orgasm overtook me. I felt my head slam back into the pillows, and I closed my eyes so tightly that burst of light erupted behind my lids. Usually I would have mixed emotion about this perceived invasion of privacy, however at the moment I was still trying to remember how to breathe and found that I didn't care very much about anything else.

Adam rolled me onto my side as I tried to regain my senses. I felt his hands running light circles on my back and I felt his still hard cock twitch inside of me. I pushed the torn remnants of the t-shirt off my shoulders and pushed my hip back into him as best as I could from that position. Adam took the hint to continue and lay on the bed beside me. With a hand placed at my hip he began thrusting inside me. I felt him pull my hair away from my neck and leaned down to place wet, suctiony kisses against my neck. I moaned as he moved from my neck up to my jaw, the up to my ear.

"Help me out Mercy, touch yourself," He demanded roughly. Without awaiting further instructions, I let one hand drift down to my clit as the other pinched and teased my long nipples. Adam started thrusting even faster, and I screamed in ecstasy as I felt him shift so that his cock entered me at a lower angle and hit right at the front my pubic bone. Soon my hand at my most sensitive peak and Adam's cock hitting me in that one particular spot became too much and I felt the walls of my pussy spasm as my second orgasm of the night tore through me. As it ripped through me it also pulled Adam over the edge with me because shortly after my own climax I felt him twitch inside of me and felt warmth spread through my womb.

One long day of shopping and two wonderful orgasms seemed to be my limit because a moment later I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness. I was vaguely aware of Adam pulling out of me, and manoeuvring both of us so he could slip the covers over our bodies. That night I fell asleep completely satisfied in my husband's arms.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I had heard every one of my pregnant friends going on and on about the transition from the first to second trimester. Most people supposedly went through some kind of "honeymoon" phase. If only I could have that kind of luck. Dr. Maria had said that going in to my second trimester would feel as if some had flipped a switch in regard to how much energy I would now have. I on the other hand tended to feel as though there was a small child playing with said switch. I often fluctuated between ridiculous amounts of energy and taking naps during the day like a toddler.

I had also been experiencing mood swings. One minute I wanted nothing more than to have Adam inside of me, other times the very thought of being intimate made me sick to my stomach. Literally. I wasn't exactly sure if this was "typical" pregnancy symptoms, but they did not seem severe enough to worry Adam over so I was mostly keeping it to myself.

Today was apparently going to be a good day. I woke up and the feeling of Adams erection against my leg evoked positive feelings. Then after making love to my husband I went to work where Zee was already working on the cars for the day. I made some bad news calls, did some inventory and some tax related paperwork and eventually it was lunch time. Zee and I had sandwiches. At around 2 o'clock I went to get myself a snack and decided to get Zee one too. I grabbed my purse and walked to the gas station around the block. I walked up to the line in front of the cash register armed with my various snacks and two cans of cola. Just as I was about to place my items on the counter for check out, the bell above the door rang alerting me to someone's entrance. As if the man yelling for everyone to get on the ground or the woman screaming bloody murder wasn't enough.

"Everybody get on the ground now!" he screamed.

I turned around to face a man of about 20 years, 180 pounds brandishing a gun another one was positioned near the door and was peering shiftily out the glass door. Due to my position directly in front of the register I was also directly in the man's line of fire. Before I even had a chance to think of a good way to protect myself, I felt myself being yanked against the man closest to me, and then shoved me roughly to the ground.

"Didn't you fucking hear me bitch, I said get on the ground," Years of karate practice had taught me how to fall; it did not however take into consideration the extra weight attached to my abdomen and hips. I felt myself falling backwards and tried to brace my fall by bracing myself with my hands. The end result was a bruised rump, what felt like a strained wrist and a battered ego. How could I convince Adam to let me leave the house when I couldn't be trusted to be aware of my surroundings?

After ensuring that the three patrons of the store weren't going to be a problem, the man with the attitude turned his attention to the young lady behind the register. He thrust a small duffel bag at her and demanded that she put all the money from the register into the bag. I was currently on the floor trying to ascertain how much damage had been done by the fall. I wiggled my fingers and my toes, sat up straight and feel a slight pull at my spine, which I filed away under "things to worry about later".

"Is that all you have?" the man was screaming at the cashier.

"This is all we have, It's been a slow day…" the woman tried to explain, with only a slight waver to her voice.

Throughout my pregnancy I was still excersining fairly frequently and even thought there were no more death matches against Lee the sadistic man at the dojo, I still practiced karate with Adam and some of the members of the pack, I knew that I would not be any good in a fight against two men with guns, so I did the next best thing, I tried to reason with them.

"Hey, why don't you just leave, it's not too late to stop this, you haven't exactly committed any class A felonies yet…"

"Someone tell that fat bitch to shut up," The one at the register said. He spun around waving his gun in an arc.

"Hey, that's not a very nice thing to say to a pregnant woman," I said putting my hands on my hip and lifting my chin in challenge.

"Shut up or I'll put a very nice bullet in your head, how about that?"

"I don't really think my husband would like that very much," I said with just a touch of Alpha. As the man was about to turn around to snap at me, there was a loud thumping sound, followed by a gasp and the sound of a body hitting the floor. Everyone in the store spun around to see what was happening. There standing at the door was a liver spotted old man with a budding beer belly at his feet in a crumpled pile was the shifty man who was, not a minute ago, stationed at the door.

"Young lady, I want you to call the Polizie," he said to the woman behind the counter whose eyes looked like they were about so leave her socket, from fear or wonder that our rescuer was an aged German man. Zee looked around the store until his eyes landed on me sitting on the floor.

"What are you doing down there?" He asked in what seemed like honest curiosity.

"Oh, you know, just getting ready to kick some ass," I said while struggling to get myself onto my knees.

"What do you think you're doing?" the remaining idiot demanded. He raised his gun and aimed it at Zee's face.

"Put that gun away little boy." Zee said in a dismissive tone and was already moving forward to help me off of the ground. As Zee moved forward the man moved with him in order to keep the gun trained on him. The woman who had screamed earlier had quieted over the course of the encounter and was now only whimpering slightly. The cashier had apparently gotten on to the police as her next words were, "The police are on their way".

It was at this time that the man decided that he had had enough. I heard the gun go off and my first instinct was to tug at Zee's arm as he was trying to help me up. The other patron of the store who up until this point had remained silent yelped in surprise as the loud noise sounded. The bullet went straight through Zee's left shoulder and embedded in the wall in front of him. In the same instant a blade the size of my arm materialized in Zee hand seemingly out of thin air, he swung the blade hilt first and it connected with the man's wrist with the sickening sound of bone crushing. The man swore loudly and dropped his gun which Zee kicked away carelessly. He then held the blade up to the man's throat and hissed something in very guttural German. Even to my untrained ears I could tell it was a threat. I decided it was time to intervene. The man looked around eyes wide with fear as if he expected someone to come to his rescue.

After finally pushing myself to my feet, I placed my hand on Zee's good shoulder in what I hoped came across as a soothing, non-threatening way.

"How about we put away the big scary knives until the police get here?"

"Damn halfwit," he muttered while withdrawing the blade. He then looked at me with concern and asked, "Leibling are you alright?"

"Bruised ego, sore wrist but I think I'll pull through," I paused contemplatively, the "How did you know I was in trouble?" To which he grunted.

"You've been in here about forty-five minutes, and I had a bad feeling," I thought about that for a moment. As far as I knew our little holdup had only lasted about ten minutes, which left meant I spent 35 minutes trying to decide between Snickers or Twix. In the end I took both. And a couple other things, for good measure of course.

At that moment to a police vehicle pulled into the lot. The officer in the passenger side was the first to notice the man lying just inside the door and pointed him out to his partner. It did not take long for them to arrest the men and get everyone's statement, just under twenty minutes later I was in my car making an impromptu visit to my OBGYN's office.

I hadn't been sitting at the Doctor's office for five minutes when my phone started to ring. I answered the shrill device without looking at the display expecting only one voice on the other side.

"Have you seen the doctor yet? What did she say? I'm on my way there now," Adam said in a rush.

"I have not seen her yet, but the EMT said I should be fine," my voice trailed off and finally I added, "I just wanted to make sure. You don't have to come, I'll let you know how everything-"

"I'll see you in 3 minutes," he said with an air of finality. I couldn't help but smile as he disconnected.

Despite my weak protest I felt better instantly as Adam walked into the **pink** waiting room, and from the way his eyes gradually darkened from an eerie amber, to a rich chocolate, I could tell that my presence settled him as well.

"The EMT took my vitals and the baby's as well, this is probably just an overreaction. I'm sure everything is okay," I realised I was rambling and quickly shut my mouth. It was then that Dr. Maria made her appearance, she was followed by a diminutive woman of indeterminable age. Only when the other woman left did she call us into the examination room.

"Well I hear you've taken a tumble. I see no reason that you would need an invasive exam, many women fall during pregnancy and usually are fine. As you have had a relatively normal pregnancy I'm fairly certain that there will be no complications as a result. I will still do an ultrasound on you to make sure the baby's heartrate is still good, but mostly so you can see that your little guy is doing okay."

She then proceeded to lift my sweater and apply the cool jelly. Then using her hand she massaged my stomach moving the baby around a little so that he would be more photogenic. She the probed me with the wand and pointed to the little screen at my bedside allowing Adam and I to see our son.

I hadn't even noticed I was holding my breath until my exhalation joined the wooshing sound my ultrasound was emitting. I felt Adam's hand squeeze mine and I realize that he had been just as worried as I was.

Not ten minutes later we were on our way home. We drove together in Adams truck leaving my car at the doctor's office. The car ride home was silent both of us either lost in thought or unsure what to say in such a situation. When we got home I made a beeline for our bedroom, closely followed by Adam. As soon as I got there he started taking my clothes off. I allowed him to. When he had removed the last layer he fell to his knee before me ad pressed his forehead to my distended lower abdomen. I gently placed my hand at the back of his head holding him close to me.

Eventually he rose and pulled me toward the bed where he lay me down, then lay next to me tucking me into side of his body. I felt the covers get pulled up over us and before I knew it the sound of his breathing slowed and his body finally released some of the tension it had been holding onto for the past few hours.

I eased my body out of his grasp. Removed his shoes and tie. Unbuttoned his shirt and removed his cufflinks and belt. I the re-joined him on the bed, listening to his breathing and the steady pounding of his heart until I too fell asleep.

A/N: Didn't know how to end this chapter… Sorry for the slow updated, my muse has been MIA recently I know this chapter is going to be dreadful and I'm going to suffer trying to go back and edit this but I wanted to post something tonight. Hope you like it, let me know if you did.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Mercy stood in the kitchen of her home staring out the window at the bank of the Columbia River which ran behind them. So lost in thought was she that she didn't even notice when her long time friend and confidante Samuel walked in.

"Now just what's got you all contemplative?" he asked, starting her out of her silent musings.

"Samuel what are you doing here? Aren't you on call tonight?" she asked. Adam kept the schedules of every wolf in his pack and even though Sam wasn't technically part of his pack, he was part of mine. Which in my opinion was close enough.

"I called in a favor from a friend of mine. Adam told you were in a mood," he stated solicitously." So are you going to tell me what's bothering you or am I going to have to torture it out of you?"

Apparently he took my lack of response for the latter because a short 10 minutes later he had me set up in front of the TV while the 1980's classic 'Mommy Dearest's opening credits rolled.

"So… what is it?" he asked once we had both settled in. We were both sitting on the plush leather sofa in the TV room. He sat comfortably on one end while I shifted relentlessly in the other.

"It's nothing really, I'm just nervous," she began uncertainly. "I- Samuel I'm terrified. What if I'm not a good mother? Adam has done this already so he knows what to expect, but I'm so new to this. I've never really saw myself having children and now that I am I have no clue what to do. No one to ask how to do it." Every insecurity that she had been harboring since the very beginning of her pregnancy finally came to a head a couple weeks ago when she had had the run in with the would be robbers at the store.

She had expected Adam to be upset with her for not being more aware. She was not ready for the overwhelming sense of guilt that rushed through her through her bond to her husband. It seemed that Adam blamed himself for her situation and even though he tried to hide it from her as best as he possibly could, there were times where he would compare her situation to her run in with Tim and how he wasn't able to help her then either. All of this combined was enough to leave Mercy feeling incredibly on edge.

"Is that what this is all about?" Samuel said with his charming southern drawl. Something he usually reserved for hostile werewolves or telling mothers that the situation in the operation room was worse than expected. "Sweetheart, you'll be a great mom. An' I'm not just saying that because it's what you need to hear right now. I'm saying it because I truly do believe in you. It's not obvious to everyone but you're a natural nurturer. Heck I've known it since you were 14. Under all of your toughness you're still the girl that rescued that wild coyote cub and nursed him back to health in a shoe box,"

They both smiled as they remembered the incident. Mercy was not yet nine at the time. Her foster mother found that she was behaving strangely and elicited Samuel's help to find out what the little girl had been hiding. After following the little girl around what he found was amazing. The usually troublesome adolescent had found a coyote cut stranded in the woods and took it before any predators could find it. She kept the coyote in a shoe box which she hid behind branches and leaves at the base of a tree. Samuel could still remember how much she cried when told that she couldn't keep her friend.

"You'll be a great mom," Samuel said, looking over at his friend who was trying to keep the tears in her eyes from falling.

They both sat and watched the movie in silence for a few minutes. Sudden movement in Mercedes' abdomen caused her to sit forward. Samuel instinctively reached for her brain already slipping into doctor mode.

"Its fine, I'm good…he's just been moving around a lot lately," she gasped.

"What exactly is moving a lot? Is it at specific time? How recently has this started happening?"

"Not too long, maybe a week or two," she said easing back into the sofa and laying a hand over her protruding tummy. "He's usually more active in the morning, I have no idea what's gotten into him…"

"What exactly do these movements feel like?" Samuel asked. There was absolutely no mistaking that tone. This was Dr. Cornick speaking.

"Uhhhm, well they start out as if he's stretching, which is something that I'm accustomed to, but then there is what feels like somersaults. Usually accompanied by the faint scent of magic. But not magic that I'm familiar with. Does any of this make sense?"

"Well if I'm hearing you correctly it sounds as though he's shifting. Obviously I can't be sure as I've never experienced anything like this," he trailed off contemplatively for a moment, before continuing in a considerably lighter tone. "Anyway as long as the paint doesn't get too bad there should be no need to worry. Keep monitoring it through, as he gets bigger I expect the changes will come more frequently and with greater force. At this time we have no idea what that could mean for you."

"Yes doc, whatever you say doc,"

The evening progressed in a very relaxed fashion and for the first time in a while Mercy was feeling much less anxious. They watched the movie until Mercy apparently fell asleep because the next thing she remembered was waking in the dark while the voices of Adam and Samuel discussed her in the kitchen.

"…_from what she's told me she's just afraid that she won't be a good mom, which is silly, you and I both know that, heck even your wolf knows it…"_

"_Thank you for speaking to her for me, I've been so afraid of a classic Mercedes bolt for a while now. I keep expecting to come home and find out that she's gone…" she couldn't be sure but she thought she heard his voice break then. Or maybe she sensed the emotion through the bond._

"_Naw. Our Mercy is too stubborn to ever leave you. Plus I reckon it helps that's she's head over heels for you,"_

Mercy smiled to herself at that comment and then must have dosed again because the next thing she knew was she was surrounded by the familiar scent of her mate and she felt her body being swayed gently as he carried her to bed.

She felt herself being lowered to the bed, then she felt Adam begin to pull the blankets over her. It was then she voiced her protest urging him to remove the jeans and blouse she had been wearing that day. She heard the deep pitch of Adams laughter as he begun to unfasten her jeans and take them off with the efficiency that he handled everything. Finally freeing her legs he moved over to the dresser to find her one of his t-shirts to sleep in. Mercedes used this time to take off her top and her bra, she tossed both aside. Adam the gently tugged his shirt over her head, lightly skimming the sides of her body as he went. His task now complete he gave her a kiss on her forehead and made his way to the bathroom to wash up before bead.

By the time he got back he found his wife fast asleep. He was only too happy to join her.


End file.
